Latest ArticlesThe compound[(CH3)2CH-C3H17N] [CoBr4] (1) based on quinuclidine derivatives was achieved by the solution synthetic method and characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray structural analysis and dielectric measurement, respectively. Variable-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction suggested that the compound underwent the phase transition from the space group C2/c to Cc. The polarization curve was measured using the Sawyer-Tower circuit. The structural phase transitions of 1 was ascribed to the distortion of a[(CH3)2CH-C3H17N]2+ cation from this inorganic-organic hybrid material[(CH3)2CH-C3H17N] [CoBr4]. The strong change in dielectric anomalies makes compound 1 a suitable candidate for promising switchable dielectric materials. This work represents a feasible strategy thought for the targeted harvesting of low temperature ferroelectrics.
Due to the diversity and feasibility of structural modification for organic molecules, organic-based redox flow batteries (ORFBs) have been widely investigated, especially in aqueous solution under neutral circumstance. In this work, a symmetric aqueous redox flow battery (SARFB) was rationally designed by employing a bipolar redox active molecule (N, N'-dimethyl-4, 4-bipyridinium diiodide, MVI2) as both cathode and anode materials and combining with an anion exchange membrane. For one MVI2 flow battery, MV2+/MV·+ and I-/I3- serve as the redox couples of anode and cathode, respectively. The MVI2 battery with a working voltage of 1.02 V exhibited a high voltage efficiency of 90.30% and energy efficiency of 89.44% after 450 cycles, and crossover problem was prohibited. The comparable conductivity of MVI2 water solution enabled to construct a battery even without using supporting electrolyte. Besides, the bipolar character of MVI2 battery with/without supporting electrolyte was investigated in the voltage range between -1.2 V and 1.2 V, showing excellent stable cycling stability during the polarity-reversal test.
Infectious diseases have always been a major cause of mobility and mortality, early and accurate diagnosis is important for their management. However, current clinical diagnosis for bacterial infection still remains troublesome. Recently, many attempts on molecular imaging have been made for prompt bacteria detection, especially for early and precise disease diagnosis. Among them, maltohexaose-based probes serve as a superb candidate due to the bacteria-specific maltodextrin transport pathway. These probes can visualize bacterial foci with unparalleled sensitivity and specificity. Such metabolism-based targeting strategy offers a powerful delivery platform for imaging and theranostic agents, providing good translational potential for developing antibacterial agents.
Drug delivery systems (DDSs) are of paramount importance to deliver drugs at the intended targets, e.g., tumor cells or tissue by prolonging blood circulation and optimizing the pharmaceutical profiles. However, the therapeutic efficacy of DDSs is severely impaired by insufficient or non-specific drug release. Dynamic chemical bonds having stimuli-liable properties are therefore introduced into DDSs for regulating the drug release kinetics. This review summarizes the recent advances of dynamic covalent chemistry in the DDSs for improving cancer therapy. The review discusses the constitutions of the major classes of dynamic covalent bonds, and the respective applications in the tumor-targeted DDSs which are based on the different responsive mechanisms, including acid-activatable and reduction-activatable. Furthermore, the review also discusses combination strategies of dual dynamic covalent bonds which can response to the complex tumor microenvironment much more accurately, and then summarizes and analyzes the prospects for the application of dynamic covalent chemistry in DDSs.
In the past decade, nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (nMOFs) have drawn a great attention due to their high porosity, wide range of pore shapes, tunable frameworks and relatively low toxic. With the development of nanotechnology, many researchers studied the synthesis, characterization, functionalization and biotoxicity of nMOFs, and a more thorough understanding was developed about numerous nMOFs as promising platforms for biomedical applications. This review highlights the up-to-date progress of nMOFs related to their bio-applications such as drug delivery, bioimaging, biosensing and biocatalysis, and the common surface modification methods were classified into four categories:covalent post-synthetically modification, coordinative post-synthetically modification, noncovalent postsynthetically modification and modification on the external surface. At the same time, the challenges and perspectives of nMOFs were discussed as well.
Rhenium is one of important components for heterogeneous catalysts, which has been recently used for the catalytic reactions related to the production of biomass-derived chemicals such as deoxydehydration of vicinal OH groups, C-O hydrogenolysis, and hydrogenation of carboxylic acids, and so on. Suitable oxidation state of Re as a catalytic active species is strongly dependent on the catalytic reactions. The control of the oxidation state of Re species on the catalysts is crucial on the catalyst development.
Herein we wish to propose the concept of "element-transfer reaction", which may afford the access to elemental compounds by transferring certain elements from easily available resources efficiently, concisely and precisely. A good element-transfer reaction with industrial application potential shall not generate waste and is performed under energy-saving and environment-friendly conditions. During the past decade, we have developed a series of methods for the synthesis of fluorine-and seleniumcontaining compounds via the fluorine-and selenium-transfer reactions, while the redox reactions were considered to be the oxygen-and hydrogen-transfer reactions as well and were also widely studied by our group for producing the high-value-added fine chemicals. Some of these technologies have been successfully industrialized. This review summarizes our staged research results on fluorine-, oxygen-, hydrogen-and selenium-transfer reactions and makes a prospect on the developing trend in the field.
Au or other metal nanostructures have the ability to strongly quench the fluorescence of fluorophores. This feature has made AuNP-conjugates attractive for the construction of platforms for various bioanalytes to overcome the limitations of small molecule fluorophores (poor solubility, long reaction time). In this paper, an ultrafast "Turn-On" fluorescent sensor for biothiols was constructed. The sensor is based on the fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) effect between the fluorophore (PN) and AuNPs, which effectively quenches the fluorescence of the fluorophore. In the presence of thiols, PN is displaced and released from AuNP surfaces, and thus, the fluorescence is rapidly restored. The sensor features appreciable water solubility and ultrafast response time (a few seconds for Cys). In addition, it exhibits high selectivity and a detection limit as low as 12 nmol/L for Hcy. Moreover, the sensor presents good biocompatibility and has been successfully applied for imaging biothiols in living cells.
A new simple bifunctional chemosensor 1 based on rhodamine was synthesized by hydrazide and formylformic acid, which could detect Cu2+ and Hg2+ via different detecting methods in CH3CN-HEPES buffer solution (20 mmol/L, pH 7.4) (1:9, v/v) respectively. When sensor 1 bound with Cu2+, it showed a colorimetric change, while a selective enhancement in fluorescence occurred upon 1 binding with Hg2+, resulting from the spirolatam-ring opening process. The binding modes of 1 with Cu2+ and Hg2+ were investigated based on UV, fluorescence change, ESI-Mass and Job's Plot data. Moreover, sensor 1 could selectively detect target ion in a mixed solution of Cu2+ and Hg2+, and the two metal ions do not interfere with each other in the process of detecting Cu2+ or Hg2+ with 1.
Inflammation, as the pathophysiological response of body to harmful stimuli, leads to changes in cellular microenvironment. To research pH changes in lysosomes of macrophages during inflammation, we designed a FRET (Förster resonance energy transfer) based probe, BDP-RhB. The probe showed good lysosome targeting ability, wide response range of pH from 8.0 to 4.0 with significant ratio (I582/I518) change from 0.6 to 3.4, and good reversibility and sustainability. By applying BDP-RhB, we found a decrease of lysosomal pH of macrophages during inflammation.